If it's not the best, it's right up there. Other faves include Talking Heads' cover of "Take Me To The River," The Feelies' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except for Me and My Monkey)," the Gourds' "Gin and Juice" and of course it's hard to even think of Aretha's "Respect" as a cover. I remember a great Husker Du cover of "8 Miles High," too.

No offense meant to Devo, who are wonder-working in their power, but. . .

Nirvana's interpretation of the brother's Meat? David Bowie? and improbably Leadbelly?

Speaking of Leadbelly- CCR's Midnight Special? Whomever it was who did the great 70s version of Little Black Bettie? Cash's version of "Stripes?" Bryan Ferry's version of Irene, Goodnight? etc. etc. etc.

Black Flag's country version of No Values?

For that matter, if (as with Flag) covering yourself counts, then certainly the Circle Jerks' slow version of When the Shit Hits the Fan (from Repo Man).

Angry Samoans version of Highway to Hell? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh5Ar7tGiZg)

Cash's version of Bird on a Wire and The Beast in Me?

Never recorded, but legendary- the version of Route 66 from that one drug addled tour when Iggy Pop was singing with the surviving Doors (Pop was institutionalized shortly thereafter, after which David Bowie took him to Berlin).

I'm not saying these beat out Devo's No Satisfaction, which is a bit of rock and roll perfection (along with much of their original oevre), but I'm not sure that Devo's cover is *better than* any of the above.

And, technically, "Hey, Joe" is a cover, as well:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tUdUVmnWNc&feature=related

Lastly, though it's not quite in the "best cover" category, this did inspire me to pass my 10th grade driver's ed exam (on the second try, ahem). We pulled-out of the parking lot, I turned-on the radio, and I knew I was going to pass this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2hTBVDx7QQ

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Maybe we should distinguish between a cover that's just a performance of a song someone else wrote and a cover that depends for its effect on invoking the original. So Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" strikes me as falling into the first category: you can get what Hendrix is up to even if you have no acquaintance at all with the original (or even if you're unaware that it's a cover). Whereas Devo's "Satisfaction" clearly falls into the second category: it's a good Devo song on its own terms (if you like their plastic nerd rock aesthetic) but it also invites comparison with the Stones song in a way that reveals what was always ridiculous about it (baby baby baby baby baby baby baby baby baby). Similarly, the Kennedys' "I Fought the Law" seems to depend on prior acquaintance with the Clash original, though the relationship with the original seems more complex in that case. And even with something like John Cale's cover of "Heartbreak Hotel" (perhaps my favorite cover), the cover departs in style so dramatically from the original that the departure seems part of the point (and thus it needs to invoke the original in order to make the gap between them visible).

There's probably a third kind, namely a parody (like a Weird Al song), which has little or no value as a free-standing song and works entirely through its dependence on the original. But the most interesting kind is clearly the middle one, where it's both a free-standing song and invokes an original that it enters into some kind of relation with. --All of which is just a roundabout answer to the earlier question about why the Devo cover is so good.

The Pixies' cover of "In Heaven" from Eraserhead is a contender: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IR0gb0NO5Q(They're also good at the Beatles. The Pixies do a fun "Wild Honey Pie" and the Breeders do an awesome "Happiness is A Warm Gun.")

Observations from an old cranky jerk who happens to be a professional philosopher. Occasionally philosophical, most often just vulgar. Sometimes focused on sober points of logic and issues in political theory, but more frequently fixed on nonsense. Bad metal bands, crappy guitarists, stupid lyrics, celebrities, pop "culture," telemarketers, irrationality, and other annoyances. Always misanthropic. Anti-religious. Not particularly amusing, either. Some might say insulting. Strange mail. Kook magnet. Doom. Comments from other cranky jerks, young and old.